Dylan raced down the path. He used his flashlight to follow the tracks.
Well, what was left of the tracks. It was getting harder and harder to spot the trail.
Paige was right. He couldn’t see any more glow paint.
Dylan slowed to a walk. He didn’t look at Paige.
“Camp Leaf has been open every summer since 1965,” Paige said. “Every year, the family does the Camp Leaf games for kids.”
“I don’t see how those details help us,” said Dylan. “We’re looking for a trophy thief.”
Emily caught up, gasping. Tugging Theodore down the path was hard work.
“Maybe Paige can help us,” Emily said. “It sounds like she knows more about the campground than we do.”
Dylan asked, “But does she know as much about detective work as we do?”
Paige laughed. “Of course not.” She added, “I prefer to learn about important stuff.”
Dylan groaned.
Emily looked from Dylan to Paige. This was fun. Normally, she was the one annoying Dylan.
Emily grinned and said slyly, “I think I’d like to hear more about the Camp Leaf games.”
Paige grinned. “Well,” she said, “it all began with the egg spoon race when the camp opened. It became so popular that soon the games included eight different activities. The water balloon toss is my favorite. There’s also the tug-of-war, fishing, slingshot targets, juggling, and the scavenger hunt. Lastly, there’s the talent show.”
“That sounds fun!” Emily said. “I hope they still start the games today.”
“They will,” Dylan said. “We just need to get the trophy back to Mrs. Fan.”
They walked slowly down the path. Dylan didn’t spot any more tracks.
Theodore chased a pine cone that Emily rolled down the path with her shoe.
A friendly voice called out, “Dylan! Emily! Is that you?”
They turned to see their friend Jack standing next to a camper.
“Hi, Jack!” said Dylan. “You’re here too?” He played with the UV flashlight, clicking it on and off.
“Sure am,” said Jack. “Just got in today. I was too late for s’mores, but luckily, we had some snacks back here I could eat.”
Paige walked up to them as Jack ducked down to pet Theodore.
Dylan clicked the flashlight on.
He clicked it back off.
On.
Off.
On— Wait. What was that?
Dylan turned the flashlight back on. There. On the bottoms of Jack’s shoes was glow-in-the-dark paint. Dylan poked Emily to get her attention.
When she looked, Dylan put a finger to his lips. He didn’t want her to say anything.
“So,” Dylan said, trying to sound bored. “What time did you say you got here?”
Jack shrugged. “An hour ago, I guess.”
Theodore rolled onto his back so that Jack could scratch him with both hands.
“Hmm,” said Dylan. “You have any plans for later?”
“Just the camp games,” Jack said. “Hopefully, this year’s trophy looks better than last year’s trophy. I keep telling the Fan family that they should let me paint their trophies.”
“Paint them?” Emily asked.
“Yeah. Nobody wants plain gold trophies anymore. I could do a neat mountain scene easy peasy. Even a tie-dye color combo would look better. I’d do anything to get my hands on that trophy,” said Jack.
“Did you take the trophy?” Paige blurted out. “I see that you have glow-in-the-dark paint on your shoes.”
Dylan groaned. So much for his idea to ask careful questions.
“What?” Jack looked confused. “I didn’t even know the trophy was missing.”
Just then, Jack’s mom called him to come into the camper.
Dylan pulled out his detective notebook. Inside it he started his list of suspects.
